The famous photo of a 14-year-old boy falling from the chassis compartment of DC-8 Japan Airlines

May 14, 2018

On February 24, 1970, Keith Sapsford, a 14-year-old boy from Australia, died when he fell from a height of 60 meters, falling from a DC-8 Japan Airlines wheelhouse during a flight from Sydney, Australia to Tokyo, Japan. Sapsford, apparently, climbed onto the aircraft’s wheel, trying to fly away in Tokyo, but died a few moments after takeoff, when the angle of rotation of the wheelhouse began to change.

John Gilpin, an Australian photographer, photographed planes departing from this airport that day and accidentally took a photo of Sapsford in the air when he fell. Gilpin did not see the boy when he took the photo, and discovered him a week after he had taken the shot.

Keith's father, Sam Zapford, remembers him as a boy, full of life, who wanted to see the world. He was very restless and many times ran away from home to satisfy his curiosity. The parents decided to travel around the world to meet the needs of the child.

However, on her return, Keith ran away from home, and the parents, not knowing what to do, relied on the organization that dealt with restless children, in the hope that they would be able to calm him down. Unfortunately, this did not happen, and on February 21, 1970, Keith managed to escape.

How did this happen?

It is believed that Keith escaped on February 21, and the association said that he was missing the next day. Then, on February 24, he made his way to Sydney Airport, climbed onto the wheel of the plane and entered the compartment, which serves to store the wheel during the flight.

Technicians believe that Kate has been hiding for a long time before takeoff. The boy went unnoticed until the plane took off, but after the plane left the ground, the landing gear began to move.

It was at that moment that Kate fell from a height of about 60 meters.

Doctors, however, reported that he would have died anyway, due to very low temperature or lack of oxygen during the flight.